Were it down to competence, ability and integrity, the former NZ PM would be all but a shoo-in for Secretary General. But it’s much less straightforward than that, writes former NZ ambassador to the UN Terence O’Brien Helen Clark’s bid to be next UN Secretary General is now official. It is hardly a surprise. Speculation … Read more
Outside the arcane world of tax havens few had noticed Mossack Fonseca creeping into the South Pacific, but New Zealand journalist Michael Field was one. He recalls how he confronted the co-founder of the law firm at the centre of the Panama Papers data leak. Jürgen Mossack came to Auckland to shut me up. For … Read more
Opinion: Five years ago, many mocked a speech calling for liberalised drug laws. Today, such a position is becoming mainstream, writes former ACT leader Don Brash. It is astonishing how rapidly attitudes towards marijuana are changing. Less than five years ago, most politicians thought I had lost my mind (indeed, perhaps had been smoking pot … Read more
It is perhaps the world’s most famous dildo – but what became of it? Hayden Donnell reveals the answer in this Spinoff special investigation into the fate of the Waitangi dildo. We all remember the moment of impact. “Thwack.” Pink flesh striking pink flesh. The dildo sprung off Steven Joyce’s jowls like a prisoner released, careening … Read more
Opinion: the minister’s tough-on-crime agenda is at odds with much of the wider direction on justice and corrections, writes Di White. “Explaining” is not a mode politicians tend to enjoy. Following the release of new figures that show the prison population at a record high, the recently reappointed Minister of Corrections, Judith Collins, went into … Read more
In principle, a Universal Basic Income, as floated by the NZ Labour Party, sounds great. It’s once you start looking harder at implementation that things quickly become, well, messy, writes Eric Crampton. If you like a UBI, economist Kevin Milligan tells us you can choose two of the following three options. But only two. 1. … Read more
Opinion: If we are ever to properly grow up as a nation, New Zealanders must make up their minds – do they want us as Māori to lift ourselves up and compete alongside Pākehā or stick to being jolly subordinates? Just when you think we might have gotten over it, it returns to the surface, … Read more
Auckland has been awash with praise for the proposed waterfront stadium. Hayden Eastmond-Mein swims against the tide, and argues it’s a really awful idea. Sport has a unique ability to defy reason and distort logic in New Zealand. It’s a proud tradition. We’ve used sport to turn a blind eye to the worst of human behaviour. … Read more
In a wide-ranging interview, the senior minister talks Wicked Campers, online abuse, her new cabinet roles, her (formerly) sexist dad, leadership ambitions, John Palino, and a whole lot more. The front page of the most recent Herald on Sunday trumpeted “The war on Wicked Campers”. For years the Australian-owned company had thumbed its bumper at … Read more
The former editor-in-chief of the New Zealand Herald, Tim Murphy, reports from day one of Labour’s party-critical Future of Work conference. “They’re stuffed,” a journalistic acquaintance said when told I was going to cover the Labour Party’s Future of Work conference. He is not unsympathetic to progressive causes and is temperamentally attuned to helping the weak, and sharing … Read more
Opinion: Much of the commentary and analysis on the TPP has focussed on the role of corporate interests. But little attention has been paid to understanding what is driving such deals in broader foreign policy terms, writes Nicholas Ross Smith. Recent months have seen much impassioned debate around the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the deal signed between … Read more
Morgan Godfery’s collection of new progressive thinking is weighed down by a lot of old left ideas, writes Ben Thomas, from the other side of the political divide. The tagline of BWB Texts is “short books on big subjects by great New Zealand writers”, although a more appropriate description of its latest anthology, The Interregnum: … Read more
Sean Plunket’s “hua” diatribe was symptomatic of widespread silencing of dissent. But the Booker-winning novelist’s exhortation to “eloquence, imagination, and reasoned debate” shows the debate isn’t over yet, writes Andrew Dean in this extract from The Interregnum: Rethinking New Zealand Giveaway: The Spinoff has two copies of The Interregnum to give away, courtesey of Bridget … Read more
Opinion: With falling dairy prices and evaporating rivers, James Dann says it’s time to give Cantabrians back their vote for their regional council. The Key government’s decision to replace the elected council at ECan has been a blot on their record during the dairy boom. Now, with the sector heading south, it looks like one … Read more
What kind of Kiwi are you? According to this noxious survey, you’re less of a patriot for being proud of Māori culture. The Kiwimeter survey – as seen on TVNZ’s website and all over your Facebook feed – has grabbed the attention and opinions of the nation, not to mention its fair share of controversy. … Read more
The Unitary Plan is a complicated beast of a document that has flummoxed many taking part in the debate. Simple misunderstandings are massively exacerbating Auckland’s housing crisis, says architect Henri Sayes. I’m an architect, I like buildings. And as an architect, I deal with planning regulation on a daily basis and know that the planning … Read more
In a report on the aftermath of this past Tuesday’s primaries, the New York Times neatly captured the impact, allure and magnetism of Donald Trump, in adjoining paragraphs. Mrs Clinton, addressing supporters in Cleveland, did not mention the Mississippi or Michigan results, instead alluding to the vitriol in the Republican field. “As the rhetoric keeps … Read more
Reports of a blowout in the Auckland Council information technology budget are as dismal as they are unsurprising. Nigel McNie, a software developer who has been building complex, bespoke IT systems for many years, offers some free advice. Eyes have been rolling up and down New Zealand at news of a Super City IT cost … Read more
The TPP roadshow kicked off in Auckland yesterday with luxury muffins and pointed questions at an inner city Auckland hotel. Former Herald editor-in-chief Tim Murphy takes in the explanatory slides and the giggling infiltrators. The real TPP roadshow occurred on intersections and motorway on-ramps about four weeks ago. There was noise, blood and guts. The public noticed. … Read more
New Zealanders need to stand up for refugees today, just as we did in the past, writes Dame Susan Devoy Seventy-two years ago our Prime Minister and our country took in more than 700 child refugees when no one else would help. They had survived the Third Reich, endured life in Russian work camps and … Read more
I’ve never met Bradley Ambrose but he’s been on my mind a lot recently. He’s the journalist and cameraman whose recording device remained on the table during the utterly preposterous cup of tea John Banks and John Key shared in a café before the 2011 election. Remember it? The politicians, for their own reasons, invited … Read more
“I am not a political person but what I am is hurt,” says Bradley Ambrose ahead of his teapot-tapes defamation case at Auckland High Court. A crowdfunding campaign has been launched in an effort to ensure freelance camera operator Bradley Ambrose’s defamation suit against John Key makes it to court. The case, which is likely … Read more
Our impossibly torturous flag change process has left us with two terrible options. Design industry professional Simon Pound explains why he’s sticking with the status quo. You know someone’s in real trouble when they have to call in their popular, tough mates to help out. So I feel sorry for John Key, having to get Richie and Dan to … Read more
In the second installment of Gone By Lunchtime, the Spinoff’s politics podcast, Toby Manhire is joined by Annabelle Lee, producer of The Hui, and Ben Thomas of political PR company Exceltium to discuss Ranginui Walker, Judith Collins and gangs, Pharmac, the flag, and Auckland’s unitary woes. Oh, and John Palino, naturally. Have a listen below, or download … Read more
The human appeals for drug funding are heartbreaking. But we need somehow to put emotion to the side, and allow the experts to weigh up the evidence. In recent days, the campaign to have the government fund Keytruda has stepped up again. A petition was yesterday delivered to parliament, with 11,000 signatures, from 11,000 very concerned … Read more
Eight reasons why a Trump presidency may not be as bad as you imagine. Don’t get me wrong: it could, and likely will, still all go horribly, horribly wrong. But a Trump Presidency is probably not going to be quite as bad as you probably think. And so, here’s a short list of reasons why … Read more
Tim Murphy heads to a café in a South Auckland garden centre to witness a most peculiar mayoral campaign launch. It is fitting that John Palino’s campaign launch is on February 29. He, too, is a peculiarity who pops-up awkwardly once every few years. It’s also Oscars day, drowning out all but the most melodramatic … Read more
Last week people submitting on the proposed Unitary Plan to Auckland Councillors were routinely jeered and shouted at by “the miserables of Kohimarama“. A marathon 7 hour meeting ended with the council backing down and the eventual crippling of Mayor Len Brown’s sanity. Hayden Donnell gingerly offers his two cents. Further reading: Read Alex Johnston’s account … Read more
You wouldn’t know it looking around the meeting, but we were the voice of the roughly half a million Aucklanders under 24, a voice that has been largely sidelined in the debate on the city’s future. Yesterday the democratic deficit present in Auckland’s local body politics was well and truly evident. In a room of … Read more